Friday night was ’90s night at Target Center for the Minnesota Timberwolves/Orlando Magic game. The Timberwolves wore their Kevin Garnett Classic Edition uniforms, the jumbotron went old school for the night and Christian Laettner made an appearance. The only thing missing was Roundball Rock.
It was the first halftime show I’ve ever stayed in my seat to watch, and way better than the usual halftime show of a guy standing on a dozen stacked up chairs.
So much of success in the NBA is about fit. You can have elite talent, but if the individuals can’t play together effectively then that team is going nowhere. Jimmy Butler is going from a young promising team in Minnesota, which seemed like a pretty good fit last year, to another young promising team in Philly. Just take a look at these two situations and tell me which is a better one.
Team A: Two No. 1 overall picks under 24 on a team that made the playoffs last year with a dysfunctional GM likely to be soon fired.
Team B: Two No. 1 overall picks under 24 on a team that made the playoffs last year with a dysfunctional GM that was fired last year.
Which situation looks more appealing to you? Looks pretty damn similar if you ask me. If you followed the Bryan Colangelo saga last season then you already know Team B is the Sixers so if you want to lean towards Team B because they also have an extra Top 3 pick under 24 I get it, but just know that guy you’re banking on is a big man that has played in 109 out of a possible 246 games in 3 years due to foot injuries. He’s missed more games in his career than he’s played. That player of course is Joel Embiid. One of the No. 1 overall picks Butler will be leaning on is a guy that is averaging 8.1 pts and 3.7 assists for his career and can’t shoot, which is important in the NBA.
All of this would be fine if Jimmy Butler just wasn’t feeling it in Minnesota, no hard feelings, just didn’t work out. Thats not exactly what happened. Butler feuded with the younger guy, publicly bitched about the team and his teammates, and shot his way out of town.
*That* guy is going to a team with a big man who loves to talk shit, a No. 1 overall pick that can’t shoot who’s confidence is wrecked, and another No. 1 overall pick that refuses to shoot 3 pointers in Ben Simmons. Oh yea, that should go swimmingly.
“Somebody that’s close to Jimmy Butler told me Markelle Fultz is done. Jimmy is not going to sit there and coddle him. Jimmy is going to be like, ‘I was homeless at one point in my life. … You’re a No. 1 pick, and you can’t get your shot right?'” — @Chris_Broussardpic.twitter.com/LA9fJTHLc3
I’m sure Butler won’t butt heads with these guys any more than he did with the young guys in Minnesota. If the Sixers somehow figure out a fit and it works then Butler gets to be the man on a young and promising team. Orrr Butler loses his patience with Fultz and makes him cry in a game, blows up on Simmons for continuously passing out of open 3-pointers, all while Embiid watches from the bench in a boot.
ESPN – When Prince died in April 2016, Nike pitched the Wolves an alternate “city edition” jersey for the 2017-18 season that would honor him. The Wolves concluded it was too soon. They were already finalizing their 2017-18 jerseys, which would kick off a full-on rebrand — new jerseys, new logo, new court, tweaked color scheme.
But they decided then to prioritize a Prince jersey for this season. They set aside some of Nike’s other proposed Minnesota-centric motifs: jerseys paying homage to Bob Dylan, the Mississippi River (which runs through Minneapolis), and the original Minneapolis Lakers, Johnson says. (You might see some of those ideas down the road.)
In case you haven’t heard, Prince is a big deal in Minnesota. A really big deal. When I lived in Boston, I hardly ever heard Prince on the radio. Living in Minneapolis, though, I can’t go a day without hearing him on the radio. And that’s not a bad thing. As I wrote on Prince Day last year, I was wrong about Prince. Prince is definitely an acquired taste, but he had an incredible list of hits and I wish I had paid more attention to him and his work while he was alive. He was an incredible musician and performer.
It can be nauseating to see some of the half-assed Prince promotions the teams in Minnesota run. Giving out purple hats and playing Purple Rain during the 7th inning stretch is the definition of a half-assed promotion. Thankfully, it looks like the Timberwolves are going above and beyond.
First, they made the right choice of which direction to go in for their city edition jersey. Minneapolis Lakers inspired jerseys? Really? Can you imagine the Baltimore Ravens wearing Baltimore Colts throwbacks? There’d be a revolt in the stands, and understandably so. Second, the jersey itself looks very well done.
And third, the Timberwolves will do much, much more than most teams to actually make their Prince nights a special experience. From Zach Lowe on ESPN:
The Wolves will wear the jerseys eight times this season, five at home. The in-arena trappings at those home games — giveaway shirts, signage, lighting — will turn purple. Tom Thibodeau, the team’s coach and general manager, even let team officials take the players for a separate day of shooting to prepare a special Prince- and purple-themed pregame video that will run on the scoreboard — not a small concession if you know Thibodeau. The team thought about producing a purple court, but opted against it, officials say.
As yet unannounced halftime performers will pay tribute to Prince, and the broader Minneapolis music scene, team officials say. The team will present donations to some of Prince’s favorite charities.
The Timberwolves Twitter feed offers a good look at the special photo day Lowe mentions:
Also, it’s nice to see some restraint from a Nike production like this. No clutter on the jersey and a wise move to skip the purple court. Overall, this looks to be some A+ promotional work from a team that could use some good press. Maybe now the classic rock stations in Minnesota can stop cutting out the best part of Purple Rain on the radio.
10 years ago today the Boston Celtics traded for Kevin Garnett and completely changed the makeup of the entire franchise. Al Jefferson, Gerald Green, Sebastian Telfair, Ryan Gomes, Theo Ratliff’s expiring contract, and two first-round picks. Thats what it took to land KG, a guy who’s No. 5 will likely be up in the rafters, and put the Celtics back on the map. A basement dwelling lottery team in the matter of a few weeks acquired both Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett and morphed into a 66 win team. All that after only winning 24 games the year before. Thats 42 additional wins for anyone who didn’t bring their calculator. KG was competitive as hell, tough, intense, generally crazy, and the guy came to ball every single night. Probably my favorite Celtics player of all time. CUE THE HIGHLIGHTS
Friday night was ’90s night at Target Center for the Minnesota Timberwolves/Orlando Magic game. The Timberwolves wore their 
The 300s 